Teachers take to the picket lines in Los Angeles

Tens of thousands of Los Angeles teachers went on strike Monday, demanding more pay and smaller classrooms in the nation’s second-largest school district.

The United Teachers Los Angeles, which has more than 30,000 members, opted to strike for the first time in three decades after nearly two years of negotiations. Teachers — carrying signs in the rain that read “on strike for our students" — picketed outside their schoolhouses and marched downtown by the thousands.

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“Here we are in a fight for the soul of public education,” said Alex Caputo-Pearl, president of the United Teachers Los Angeles union, at a press conference. “The question is, do we starve our public neighborhood schools so they are cut and privatized, or do we reinvest in our public neighborhood schools for our students and a thriving city?”

District leaders opened schools for instruction and meals, but the strike complicated the lives of families in a district where 8 out of 10 kids qualify for free or reduced lunch.

“We know that the families most in need are the ones most impacted by today’s activities,” said Monica Garcia, the president of the board of education.

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By the afternoon, Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, issued a statement urging both sides back to the negotiating table. He said the budget proposal he offered last week could "translate into additional services and support for children served by LAUSD.”

“This impasse is disrupting the lives of too many kids and their families," Newsom said.

Union leaders said the strike was about reducing class sizes of more than 40 students in some schools and combating what they view as pro-charter school policies. They demanded more nurses, librarians and counselors, while blaming local, state and federal policies for the schools’ struggles in one of the nation’s richest states.

Los Angeles Superintendent Austin Beutner has said repeatedly that the district also wants to hire more staff but can't afford it. The district has proposed hiring about 1,200 additional staff, but the union has said that would only bring one additional employee, on average, to each school, and the increases would not be guaranteed after one year.

Beutner said previously that 200 of the 1,200 positions were possible because of Newsom's budget proposal — assuming it gets passed.

It wasn't immediately clear when negotiations would resume.

"They walked away from bargaining. We would encourage them, we urge them, to resume bargaining with us at any time, anywhere, 24-7. We’d like to resolve this," Beutner said.

Beutner said the district has been in discussions with not just Newsom but Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, about the strike because “it is our desire to have all of our educators well supported and back in schools and serving the needs of our students.”

The two sides have also bickered over salary, although they are close on that issue.

Union leaders have said the teachers are inspired by statewide teacher walkouts last year in states such as West Virginia, Oklahoma and Arizona.